How Twenty-Four English Rabbits Invaded Australia

The invasion of Australia by rabbits is said to have resulted from the introduction into the region of twenty-four specimens from England that arrived in Melbourne on Christmas Day 1859. “Rabbits were a gift to Thomas Austin, a wealthy English settler who wanted to plant these small animals. on his Australian property. His project succeeded beyond all hope”, Paradoxically Science.

Three years later, these wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Thousands jumped, and in 1865 Thomas Austin boasted to a local newspaper that he had killed about 20,000 on his property, where he organized hunting parties. However, the British were not the only ones to introduce Leborida to Australian soil. But his legacy will be the origin of the invasion, if we are to believe it The study was published on August 22 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Based on historical and genetic data, researchers have traced the origin of what they call The highest colonization rate ever recorded for an introduced mammal”, Accurate Guardian. In The Australian Journal age, Joel Alves, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Oxford and co-author of the study, Emphasizes:

“Rabbits may have been routinely introduced throughout Australia, but it was one group of English rabbits that sparked this devastating biological invasion, the effects of which are still being felt today.”

Thomas Austin’s animals in particular had one advantage over their predecessors: the environment was more favorable to them. Over time, the interior became pastureland and was hunted to protect livestock. “An ideal situation”, respect Science Joel Alves. And, according to Mike Letnick, co-author of the University of New South Wales, cited security guard, It is possible that these animals and their offspring have a genetic advantage in adapting to the Australian nature.

Despite many measures (fencing, introduction of deadly diseases) to control populations, rabbits remain a major threat to native flora and fauna. “Rabbit damage to agricultural crops is estimated at 200 million Australian dollars [environ 139 millions d’euros] per year”, reports Guardian.